The use of AI chatbots is refining the way brands connect with consumers. They boost traffic, sales, and provide fast and accurate customer service and support. WIth the latest advances in AI, hatbots are one of the most powerful tools driving customer acquisition and support for brands.

You could say that chatbots are revolutionizing the customer experience. They have also become increasingly important tools for optimizing buyer personas and sales funnels. From awareness to purchase, chatbots can effectively and efficiently push customers down the sales funnel.

Why? The success brand’s are having with chatbots is clear, simply because these efficient AI bots are meeting consumer demands in ways human personnel simply cannot.

Chatbot stats marketers and brands can’t afford to ignore . . .

51 percent of consumers want businesses accessible 24/7

45.8 percent of consumers want to message a business rather than contact them via email

49.4 percent of consumers want to contact a business via messaging rather than phone

“Whatever it is, the consumers are looking for a conversational alternative to phone calls, and that alternative might very well be messaging apps,”VentureBeat suggests.

Are you using chatbots to lead customers down your sales funnel? If not, let’s take a deeper look at how chatbots are refining the customer experience for each step of the sales funnel.

First, Develop Chatbot Scripts that Focus on Conversions

The first thing you should do is use chatbots as analytic tools. This allows you to effectively develop bot scripts optimized for conversions.

“Chatbots can be programmed to track purchasing patterns and monitor data from consumers,” AJ Agrawal ofForbes explains. “This tells a company which products to market differently, which to market more and which to redevelop for relaunch.”

Most digital marketing platforms and campaigns have countless data sets. However, a chatbot can sift through that data at lightning speed, picking out the most relevant bits.

Once you have collected your chatbot analytics, you can optimize it by writing sales funnel minded scripts. This can be done using different messages to see which ones fuel the most engagement, and thus more likely to lead consumers down the sales funnel.

Chatbots and Sales Funnel Awareness

Making chatbots more intelligent via analytics and conversion minded scripts is the essential element behind marketing and AI’s blossoming relationship. Intelligent bots can boost visibility and lead consumers through the awareness phase of the sales funnel.

How? By deploying your chatbot on a messaging platform. Many brands like Under Armour, CNN, and Uber are using chatbots on Facebook Messenger to connect with consumers.

According to Uber, “Powered by Uber’s API, Messenger now enables its millions of users to sign up for Uber with one tap and request a ride, all without having to leave Messenger or downloading the Uber app.”

Here’s how chatbots can boost brand awareness for your sales funnel:

Chatbots work seamlessly with Facebook Messenger, and other messaging platforms like Kik, Twitter, etc.

AI bots push promotions based on buyer personas

Through Facebook, chatbots can take orders

Chatbots can give key information to drive conversions

In fact, messaging platforms with AI bots are becoming more popular than apps.

“The bot revival is also taking place at a time when people are growing tired of individual apps. As a result, brands in search of the best way to talk to consumers are now pairing off with some the world’s dominant messaging platforms — and their chatbots,”according to The New York Times.

Chatbots and Sales Funnel Leads

Using email integration, chatbots can nurture leads and push customers farther down the sales funnel. This is due to their versatility and ability to compile valuable consumer data in an effective and efficient way.

This greatly speeds the time it takes to nurture leads. Did you know it takes a human eight hours, on average, to follow up with a lead? Andaccording to Two by For, 50 percent of leads are never followed up on. That is a lot of potential sales lost.

Automating your follow up efforts via chatbots ensures all leads are attended to. They can also qualify leads based on the consumer data they collect, including location, product preferences, buying habits, age, gender, etc.

“Artificial intelligence is different—it flips lead generation on its head by identifying intent, or analyzing past customer behavior to predict the future,”WIZELINE explains. “The result? A far more informed, targeted and relevant acquisition strategy.”

These key demographic points allow you to target and deliver timely and relevant content to potential customers with speed and accuracy. Leave no leads behind!

Chatbots and Sales Funnel Decisions

Developing chatbots that correlate with your sales process is another key feature for marketers. These AI bots can make a significant impact on buyer decisions in the sales funnel by simply being sales assistants to consumers on the fence about your products and services.

When making a buying decision at the bottom of the sales funnel, a little attention and lightning fast information can go a long way. Chatbots have endless product knowledge, instant answers to questions, and can assist more than one customer at a time.

These features are vital during the final buying decision, and will certainly increasecustomer acquisition and retention. Chatbots can also upsell based on the purchase decisions and questions customers ask your bots.

Marcela De Vivo is a search veteran who has been in the industry since 1999. Marcela draws on an deep expertise in both organic and paid search to help companies large and small increase their revenue from digital marketing. Her emphasis has been in creating integrated marketing strategies that include paid, organic, social, and PR to build authoritative domains that have strong visibility across a variety of channels.